Neatly parked Russian coasters waiting for better days near Svetly on the canal to Kaliningrad, the Russian enclave in the Baltic. The pilot informed me that they had been laid up since January of this year, another pilot in Rotterdam told me that they have such underpowered engines that they would be the first to get mothballed, shippers choosing more flexible tonnage. That was his take on events. But I think that regardless of machine power the chances for these ships of seeing any action are slim for the foreseeable future.
Lay ups.
A programme on Swedish Public Radio was discussing the use of fjords and harbours on the west coast of Sweden as possible sites for long term lay ups. Northern latitudes being apparently more attractive due to better security. Another report in the LA Times speaks about Subic Bay in the Philippines where ships are laid up.
Hot and cold lay ups. A hot lay up is where the ship is waiting for a shorter period without cargo with full crew and ready for action, e.g. Subic Bay, because of the risk of typhoons. A cold lay up means a long period of time out of service. Accommodation sealed up, dehumidifiers in all spaces, and shore electricity or extra generator for power, with maybe one or two watchmen onboard. Dead ship in other words, e.g. Labuan in Brunei.
Of course none of this lay up business is new, 20 years ago as cadet I sailed on ships that had been reactivated from lay up after going directly from newly built to idle for several years. Back then it was mostly VLCC’s and other tankers, now it’s mostly large container vessels. The reasons are the same though over capacity and freight rates plummet. It will take time for a recovery, by then plenty ships will have gone to scrap or lay up to push up the freight rates. Then the carousel can start again.
Just in on the Navigation warnings satellite printer, a Blockade planned by French Fishermen, it reads,
Quote
“NAVAREA TWO
091/09 - DOVER STRAIT TRAFFIC SEPARATION SCHEME
A GROUP OF FRENCH FISHING VESSELS INTENDS TO BLOCKADE AND/OR HAMPER
SHIPPING PROCEEDING IN THE DOVER STRAIT TRAFFIC SEPARATION SCHEME
NORTH EAST LANE.
- HAZARDOUS BEHAVIORS INCLUDING COURSES STEERED OPPOSITE TO THE LANE
DIRECTION AND/OR ZIGZAGS IN OPPOSITE DIRECTION ACROSS THE LANE WIDTH
ARE EXPECTED.
-THIS INDUSTRIAL ACTION COULD START IN THE NIGHT FROM THE 13 TO 14
APRIL.
-FISHING VESSELS INVOLVED ARE LIABLE TO SWITCH OFF THEIR NAVIGATION
LIGHTS.”
Unquote
Bound to be some nasty scenes there. And I thought we were safe up here in Northern Europe from piracy on the high seas, or “industrial action” as it is being called by the French (the message was broadcast by France Telecom).
Well if I see anything I’ll have the cameras rolling, later folks…….
There are ways of doing things well, and ways of doing things disastrously. The difference usually means thinking. Planning helps. Experience is an advantage, not always necessary. Knowledge can have a bearing on things and usually does when you put someone in a responsible position.
“Common dog f..k” was how one of my British colleagues put it, he was referring to how certain things are embedded in the brain so well that they should not have to be explained “like opening your zip before taking a piss” my down to earth shipmate continued, and he went on down the crude scale as I cracked up at each witty comment.
I wasn’t laughing so much when this ship showed up on the scope, seemingly going the same way we were and going to overtake us on our port side, not usually how I would do it but then again as long as you keep out of the way, no harm done. I borrowed the title of the post from “Hunt for the Red October” where Soviet submarines would suddenly turn around out of the blue to see if they were being tailed, as this ship passed me and started to converge I realised his intention was not to keep out of the way and was in fact an attempted suicide maneuver. I put the camera down and pulled the stick back to slow us down and put some water between us and the 6 o’clock news. Sure enough he went to starboard and crossed ahead without so much as a by-your-leave and merrily sailed on.
When imminent danger was over I picked up the VHF to try and speak to him, waste of time really, my heart was so far up my throat I could hardly talk and a hoarse voice thanked me for my co-operation in a sort of eastern dialect that could have been from anywhere between Serbia and Sevastopol.
Conclusion.
Don’t be surprised when the other ship doesn’t follow the rules.
Be prepared to take severe evasive action, or you will be on the news.
Make sure you know what you are supposed to be doing, there are enough “ships of fools out there”
Published April 4, 2009
in Pilot, ship spotting, Warships, Navy, photos, UK, From the ship, Grey Funnel, Maritime, England and On the ship.
The Royal Navy’s newest ship on trials off the coast of the Isle of Wight a few weeks ago. I could say I delayed posting for reasons of national security but that would be a load of shite, every man and his dog has a camera these days and you only have to look on flickr or any of the other social network sites to find acres of photos of everything. There are plenty of pictures of the derring-do Daring around, so much for the tag of stealth ship on that count. I got 88000 hits on google for “HMS Daring” and a lovely link on Wikipedia
The stealth refers to the shape of the hull which reflects radar signals at an angle either into the sea or up into the sky and not back to the enemy radar. You can see the angles in the hull shape which this theory is based on, however our radar showed a nice healthy target echo as she passed by, which means we either have a friendly radar or it was too close. I’m guessing the stealth capabilities mean that it can get within shooting distance and deliver a missile to an unsuspecting enemy before it is seen on a shore based radar station or from patrol ships. These days, the places that this ship will be deployed probably won’t have great detection equipment anyway, like Somalia and so on.
Another photo below with the Southampton Pilot boat in the forewater to give an indication of scale.
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